Goals Check-Up

First – let me just say thanks for your comments & concern about the dogs. Both are doing well. The bro-in-law’s dog is now missing a tiny piece of his ear (permanently), but this was the only flesh wound above just scrapes and scratches, so all things considered – we were very lucky.

do you see the little knick on the very lower left corner of his ear?

let me get a better shot!

There we go. Ouch – looks painful!

We have taken my dog to a friends’ house so I wouldn’t have to worry about these two being together. It’s a scary situation, but it’s over now.

And can you believe how fast time is flying??? It’s basically Christmas – and then it’s basically New Years – so that makes now basically January, right?

Since I recently made some goals and I know the rest of the month flies by, I wanted to have a check-up and see how I’m doing & what needs improvement.

1. Take more photos for the blog. Verdict = 1/2 Success

I started the month strong, but since coming back to Texas I haven’t been doing great. Okay, lets be honest – the whole fam doesn’t know about the food blog thing so I’m kinda nervous about….ripping the band-aid off? I dunno. Seems like a bad analogy, but that’s kinda how it feels

2. Take some time for myself, family, and friends. Verdict = 1/2 Success

Okay – well I’ve done basically nothing for myself, I’ve spent an “okay” amount of time with friends (not none, but not a ton), but now that we’re back home, we’re basically with family 24 hours, so we’re doing good on that

I don’t know. I’ve had good stretches and bad stretches, but if I had to put it into percentages, I feel like I’m only being “good” about maybe 65-70% of the time. I’ve had a lot of Christmas cookies and hot chocolates lately. I like to allow myself some indulgences, but I feel like I could probably stand to be a little bit more selective in what I shovel in my mouth eat.

5. Buy and make cheap, but thoughtful and creative Christmas gifts. Verdict = total FAIL

Okay – the only presents I’ve bought so far came from Trader Joes (what? There’s not one near Austin & I want my fam to know what they’re missing out on! Hello peppermint hot chocolate, popcorn tin, and eggnog cookies for my Mom, bro-in-law, and bro, respectively)

Otherwise, I haven’t “made” a single gift. Instead I’ve bought crap. And for most people, I haven’t actually even bought anything yet.

So.. blah! Doesn’t look like I’ve been doing to well! I guess when you spread yourself too thin you don’t get any 1 thing accomplished 100%. Plus I’ve been giving a lot of time and attention to school-related matters still.

I hadn’t even realized, but it’s kind of been a stressful & working vacation thus far! Hopefully that changes, at least for X-mas Eve/X-mas Day!? Hopefully? What can ya do?

Today I’ve spent all morning working on school stuff. I feel so behind. It’s not a fun feeling around the holidays when I just want to be relaxing, hanging with friends, and enjoying my family.

I snuck in a banana for breakfast

and leftover Chuys for lunch

chicken taquitos (they’ve got chicken, green chilis, and spices inside the tortilla. wrapped up & lightly fried). Served with a salad and hand-full of carrots.

Oh yeah, and this stuff:

This is Chuy’s famous Creamy Crack….I mean Jap. It’s actual name is “creamy jalapeno”, but if you have ever been to a Chuys (they’re just in Texas right now, but have plans of expansion to Louisiana and across the SE US), you’ve probably heard of this thick, delicious white stuff. It’s a jalapeno ranch dressing – actually intended as a salad dressing. But customers started asking for it to dip their chips in…..and it is INCREDIBLE! I could eat ANYTHING as long as it’s covered in some of this crack-like substance (earned the name Creamy Crack because it is seriously addictive). Here’s the finished plate, loaded up with avocado & creamy jap

Right now I have a date with this guy

My mom has an old-school “manual-style” elliptical machine that usually sits snugly in the corner of the upstairs living area. Yes, I’m supposed to be running today & doing elliptical tomorrow. Yes, I’m changing up my workout schedule again. You gotta just do what works sometimes, ya know?

Later this afternoon I MUST get to the mall to actually buy Christmas gifts. Ugh! I’ve been horrible this year! I need to think about how to do things differently next year because I don’t enjoy all the stress of last-minute mall madness, etc. I’m not a big shopper, to begin with (blasphemy, I know).

sorry to hear about the dogs not getting along, glad they are ok though and now apart, I wish we had an exercise machine in our place, because in the winter Im in hibernation and dont want to go to the gym in the cold!

Gah I want an elliptical!! I would be on it ALL THE TIME. I love working out while watching tv, I do a bunch of ab work/pushup combos during commercials and I know I could easily spend an hour on that machine just watching football or something. SOmetimes a mindless workout is just what I need!!

Yeah – I don’t have any machines at my house (the elliptical is at my Mom’s). I have a few different size hand weights that I sometimes use at home for strength training, but otherwise it’s generally videos for me, too!

[…] cheap, but thoughtful and creative Christmas gifts. Okay, this was a total fail, but if you say my mid-month goals check-up, then you know that I basically gave up on this by the middle of the month! Sometimes you have to […]